You might have guessed from my previous post that I am a Les Miserables groupie. I have been since my first visit to the UK in 1997. It was a business trip and was a few weeks after the death of Princess Diana. Buckingham Palace was still awash with wreaths and gifts left by a grieving nation. I even signed the condolence book set up on the pavement outside Harrods by Dodi Fayed's father.
As an aside I remember that a visit to Harrods public toilets cost me a pound. In those days it was only R8 to the pound, but that R8 could buy you a helluva lot more that it does today. I remember that there were name brand colognes on offer and I tried my best to use a pounds worth.
On our last night in London I and a couple of my colleagues decided to hit the West End and I had persuaded them that we should try and see Les Mis. It already had a reputation and I was very keen to see it. We went to the theatre at about 5 in the evening and without any expectations of success asked for three tickets. We were amazed that we were immediately offered tickets in the upper circle. We were warned that our view might be limited.
We did not mind the fact that viewing might be limited and were just excited to have tickets to the hottest show in town. Those limited tickets cost us 8 pounds each. We couldn't believe that we had paid so much and to perhaps even miss some of the action. We had a couple of hours to kill before the show and decided to kill some time in a nearby pub.
When we arrived back at the theatre there was quite a crowd and a small queue into the theatre. While standing in line we were happy to see a busy pub just inside the doors where we could continue our pre theatre refreshments. The doorman took our tickets and pointed us to the stairs telling us to go up to the fourth floor. "Oh no we want to go to the pub." I said. "Don't worry sir," he said, "there is a pub on every floor."
He was true to his word. At the fourth floor pub we asked for cold beers. As it was summer they had a plastic bowl filled with ice with a few lagers stuck in it so our request was fulfilled. Once in the theatre we were pleased to note that the view was not as restricted as feared. We were certainly not as badly off as those behind us who had obviously bought tickets later than us and had pillars obstructing their view.
To assist our view there were binoculars attached to the chairs in front of us and which could be released for use for a paltry 20p. We all loved the show. I remember being enthralled with the beautiful music and clever staging of the story. It was my first experience of the West End and I have tried to take in at least one show on every visit since and have had the privilege to see many memorable shows.
'Til next post...
No comments:
Post a Comment